Guard finger



April zo, 1926. Y

o'BRlEN KELLEY GUARD FINGER y filed Feb. 12, 192v Tllilb Patented Apr. 20,1926.

" UNrrEn s-'rafriisy OBRIEN KELLEY, OF V(LOOTES STORE, VRG-iIlTIA.y

GUARD FINGER.

Application filed February Y 10 all 'whom t mag/concern.'

Be it known that I, OiBnrnN KnLLnr, a citizen of the United States, residing at Cootes Store, in the-county of Rockingham and State of Virginia, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Guard Fingers, of whichthe following is a specification.

This invention relates to guard fingers for mowing apparatus and has for its object-they provision of a supplemental finger arranged to alternate with the usual guard fingers wherebymtoprevent entanglement of weeds or stalks with the mowing knives and thereby avoid choking ofthe operation. The invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawing and will be hereinafter fully set forth.

In the drawing:

Figure l is a plan View of a guard finger having my invention embodied therein, the knives being omitted;

Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the same, and

Fig. 3 is a section on the line 3-3 of Fig. l.

Referring to the drawing, the reference numeral l indicates a guar-d finger of the usual formation having a rear extension 2 whereby it may be secured to the finger bar and having an intermediate transversely grooved portion 3 in which the cutter bar reciprocates in the usual manner, the intermediate portion being extended laterally on one side to define a wing 4 between the front transverse rib or lug 5 and the rear extension 2 and coterminous with the rib. Projecting forwardly from thawing 4 is a supplemental finger 6 which is narrow relative to the guard finger l and is located midway between two adjacent guard fingers. This supplemental finger which tapers upwardly in cross section, as Shown in Figs. l and 3 has itsl front end tapered, as indicated at 7, and its upper surface 8 is disposed somewhat below the knife-supporting surface 9 of the guard finger while' the under side of the supplemental finger is disposed above the bottom of the guard finger. It is to be noted that the front end of the supplemental finger is disposed at or slightly in advance of the vertical plane of the front terminal of the knife-supporting surface 9, and it is also to be noted that a recess or notch 10 isv formed at the rear end of the finger 6 and the end of the lug 5 to receive the abutting end of the meeting lug 5 on an adjacent 12, 1925.r` Seriaifno. 8,796.

guard finger, the auxiliary finger being thus disposed midway between two guard fingers. By having'the finger tapered upwardly in cross section, inclined side faces are formed and' re-duceto a minimum the likelihood of Y stones becoming wedged between the fingers and knives. f A

By the `use of my supplemental finger weeds, stalks and other matter whichtend to accumulate upon the stationary knives and clog the operation of'the cutter are turned aside so that` the'jcutterv will at all times'operate smoothly and easilyfand without interruption. is of such form and dimensions that it does not add materially to the weight of the cutter and it may be added to cutting apparatus now in use at slight expense. An auxiliary finger is disposed between each two guard fingers through the entire length of the cutter and they may be provided at each end of the cutter. By their use, stones which tend to lodge on the knives and break or chip them are turned aside so that breakage vof knives is practically eliminatedl and the cost of repairs minimized. Vhile I have shown the auxiliary finger as provided on one side of each guard finger, it will be understood that they may be provided at either side of the guard finger or at both sides of alternate guard fingers.

Having thus claim:

1. A. guard for mowing knives comprising a rear finger bar engaging portion, a forward finger portion formed with a blade supporting surface, side arms extending described the invention,

vtransversely fromthe rear end portion of said finger portion, and a. supplemental finger Yextending forwardly from the outer end of one of said side arms, said supplemental ngerv being unobstructed throughout its length and tapered upwardly in cross section and having its upper face spaced well below the plane of the blade supporting surface of' said finger portion and its lower face above the plane of the lower face of said forward finger portion and extending substantially parallel to the upper face of the supplemental finger throughout the greater portion of its length and terminating in an upwardly The supplemental finger transversely from the rear end portion of said linger portion, and a supplemental finger extending forwardly from the outer end ot one oit' said side arms, said supplemental finger being` unobstructed throughout its length and having' its upper face spaced well below the plane of the blade supporting surface of said finger portion and the rear end portion of the supplemental finger being i'orined in its outer sido portion with a recess extending' across the outer end of the last mentioned side arm and forming a seat having` a bottoni and forward end wall and adapted to receive the tree end portion of the other side arm oi a Companion guard.

3. A guard `tor mowing knives including a 'forward finger portion having a` blade supporting surface, a rear ringer bar engaging portion and a transversely extending knife bar receiving* seat between the finger portion and finger bar engaging portion, arins eX- tending transverselyr from opposite sides oi"- the rear end portion of said inger and of a depth to dispose their lower edges below the plane of the blade supporting surface of the finger, one arm being of a greater depth than the other and having,- its outer end recessed to torni a seat to receive the end portion of the corresponding other arm oia companion guard, a web extending rearwardly 'from the thickened arm and joined to said linger bar engaging portion and forming' a continuation of said knife har seat, and an auxiliary finger extending for- `frardly 'trom the outer end portion of the thickened arin opposite said web with its upper face below the plane ot the bottoni of said seat in appreciable. spaced relation to the plane of the blade supporting surface of said finger and unobstructed. throughout its length.

Tfn testimony whereof I aiiix my signature.

@BRIEN KELLEY. [Ls] 

